This was Jaime Wolf's first day out from under his year of suspension. The Command Lance had landed on Morges, on the border of Clan Jade Falcon's occupation zone, coming in at dawn over the top of Ziggilies Mountain. Beta Regiment and Spider's Web Battalion were already onplanet, having been hired by the Federated Commonwealth for a counterstrike against the Jade Falcon occupying force. The Falcons were looking to expand their occupied territory and the Dragoons were to help stop them. FedCom units were engaging the Falcons on their own, but the Dragoons would provide added punch to make sure the Falcons went home, and went home bloodied. It was the hottest contract the Dragoons had underway. Naturally, the Wolf wanted to be in for the kill.

I had no doubt that Jaime Wolf was happy to be here.

"That got their attention," he said. Reconnaissance had reported that the Falcons were engaging the Spider's Web with significant forces. The Jade Falcon commander would soon see that the ante had been upped. "Brian, give aerospace the go. The Falcons will start dropping reinforcements soon. Let's give them a warm welcome."

"Aerospace on the way," I responded as I received acknowledgement from the command ship in orbit. "Major Baracini is promising them a bumpy ride down."

"That's a promise he'll keep." Maeve cut in. "Brian, tell them to let some through. We don't want those aerojocks hogging all the fun."

She laughed lightly, clearly relishing the coming combat. Though I was eager, too, to be honest, I must also admit to feeling some trepidation. Should the Jade Falcon reinforcements arrive in significant numbers, the fighting would be deadly. The Dragoons would not get off easily.

The Wolf gave the order to move out of our positions. Taking care on the treacherous slopes, the BattleMechs of the Command and Bodyguard Lances picked their way down toward the plain. The vector we followed would take us to a new position about four kilometers behind the lines, and from there we would be able to see the battle progressing. We had covered only half the distance when Alicia Fancher, the Beta commander, put in a priority call.

"Delta call, Colonel," I relayed. "Beta reports a Jade Falcon breakthrough twenty klicks north of Josselles."

"Map feed," he ordered.

"In process."

I reviewed the feed on my monitor, trying to guess the Wolf's response. The Falcon attack had pierced Beta's right-flank defenses and threatened to drive a wedge between the Dragoons and the FedCom forces. Worse, the command center coordinating the operation was in Josselles. If the Falcons succeeded in reaching it, they would disrupt our attack. With our coordination shattered, they could turn on the FedCom troops and waste them while holding us off. The map plainly showed that Beta's 'Mech forces could not intercept the Falcons in time to prevent them from reaching the command center. No one had expected the Clan force to mount a counterthrust so swiftly.

"Vector on me." The Wolf turned his Archerin the direction of Josselles. "Brian, sound Code White."

There were other orders as well, but I was soon too busy to contemplate their importance. Handling the volume of comm traffic inherent in a multiregiment battle is a full-time job. Try adding to that the task of piloting a BattleMech traveling at fifty kilometers per hour over rough terrain and see how much time youhave to consider tactical subtleties. I was shocked back to the immediate field when Vordel's Victortook the first round of fire.

The Victorrocked under the impact of a volley of long-range missiles, but kept moving, twisting right, then left, to throw off the enemy gunner's aim. Raising its right arm, the Victorfired its Gauss rifle with a crack that ripped the air. Then the rest of the Bodyguard Lance joined in. Missiles screamed downfield, the smoky billows of their exhaust trails lit with bright blue flashes of particle projector bolts.

Then I saw Maeve's Thunderbolttake a brace of heavy laser hits. Missiles struck all around her, raising dust and hiding her from view. My heart stopped as chunks of fused armor blasted free of the obscuring cloud in a rain of shrapnel. The pulsing of her 'Mech's arm-mounted Blackwell 20 laser told me she had survived the attack, even before her T-boltcleared the cloud of steam and smoke. The armor of the 'Mech's right arm was shredded and I could see the gleam of its internal structure. Craters from missile hits pocked the sloping chest, but the T-boltmoved with undiminished speed. I began to breathe again.

A Star of five enemy BattleMechs, three Thorsand two Mad Cats,emerged from the treeline, racing for the cover offered by a razed town. Not Josselles; we were still several klicks north. The Falcon 'Mechs fired as they moved, no doubt hoping to slow us and gain the protection of the rubble and burned-out buildings, while simultaneously denying it to us. Once behind the buildings, they could fire on us as we moved through open fields to close with them. And we would have to close, for their weapons generally out-ranged ours. If we attempted a long-range duel, I knew that the other 'Mechs of their detachment would already be moving through the trees, racing past toward Josselles.

The Falcons must have been confident, and who could blame them? Intel had reported that most of the Jade Falcon BattleMechs onworld were second-line models, 'Mechs similar to Inner Sphere designs but equipped with Clan weapons, engines, and electronics. Such machines were dangerous enough, but this Star consisted of OmniMechs, battle machines as superior to Clan second-line models as those models were to most Inner Sphere 'Mechs.

Omnis were one of the Clans' great advantages, and the Falcons knew how to use them. In our two lances, we had only three Omnis.

The radio waves crackled with challenges from the Clan warriors. They were calling for single combat, 'Mech against 'Mech. Clan honor, Inner Sphere suicide.

"Ignore the challenges," the Wolf ordered. "Bodyguard Lance concentrate on the lead 'Mech. Command Lance to direct all fire at the trailer."

Maeve protested, wanting to duel her opponent. Hating the necessity, I overrode her circuit. The Wolf had given his orders and she was out of line. Concentrated fire might let us bring down one or both of the target Omnis and thus even the odds.

Despite her protest, she followed the Wolf's orders.

The T-bolfslaser sent iridescent gouts of energy into the leg of the lead Falcon 'Mech, a Thor.Her shots placed right on target, a hole punched through by her lancemates. The Thorstumbled, then righted itself, but only for a moment. As the seventy-ton machine's weight came down on the the injured leg, the foamed titanium bones gave way. The Thortoppled. A second Thorleaped past as it fell, continuing the Falcons' charge for the ruined town.

The Command Lance wounded its target, a Mad Cat,but the Omni kept moving. Our attack hadn't slowed the Star and we didn't have time for a second round before the leading Falcons reached cover. It seemed obvious that we were going to have to go in after them and that we'd take damage doing so, possibly even lose some of our 'Mechs. I hoped Maeve's wouldn't be one of them.

The situation suddenly worsened as Hans announced, "Star at four o'clock."

A new Star emerged from the woods, charging toward our flank. The Falcons had laid a trap, drawing us into a commitment, then hitting us from two sides. The first Star's Omnis reached the town and I could hear their jeers overrunning the open frequency.

The shouting changed its tone when those Omni pilots found ourtrap.